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 In the heart of Massachusetts lies the city known as Paradise.  Founded in 1629 it was a rival of its sister city, Salem.  Paradise and Salem have been rivals in a great many ways, sharing the Naumkeag river but few would suspect the truth of the matter.  Since they matured from settlements to town and from towns to cities, both cities have been the grounds of a terrible and endless battle.  The Divine and the Infernal have long since waged war from these cities, traveling from one to the other.  Paradise became a Divine haven while Salem fell under the sway of the Infernal.   

  Paradise and Salem fought each other for a long time, as rival cities.  Paradise was always the stronger of the two and the Divine launched many war parties into Salem.  Meanwhile, Salem dispatched it's own Murders into Paradise.  Where the Divine focused on the destruction of the Infernal, the Infernal focused on the ruination and corruption of the Divine and their precious city. 

   That is, until the Last Crusade struck and changed all that.  Salem was a target by the angelic forces while Paradise was a target of the demonic forces.  The leader of the Salem forces, Malacar, left Salem to meet the Deistical in Paradise for their presentation of the Codex.  He and a few Murders joined Paradise and the Codex.  While both cities held out strong, the Infernal who remained in Salem had refused to follow the Codex.  Eventually, they could not stem the tide of the darkness that swept over them, and had very recently been overwhelmed, the Fallen all but destroyed. The few who survived, with their tails between their legs, made an Exodus to Paradise, bolstering the ranks of their former adversaries. 

   Paradise adopted the Codex and fought off the Horde.  The Divine, the strongest Conviction at the time, quickly sought to focus their attention on the Predomination of the city, tuning the Zeal of the city towards a paradise.  They had accomplished this monumental feat and while some parts of the city waver, even years later, the whole of the city remains a paradise.

   Paradise has become one of the few strongholds of the Fallen, no small feat due to the power of the Kings.  The Kings are Fallen of the Middle Tier, some of the very few who refused to abandon their Convictions when the Remnant was formed over a hundred years ago.  Jacob, the Faithful White King and Malacar, the Prudent Black King rule the city in their aristocratic ways.  They rarely see the rest of the Fallen and thus have gained the nickname the Aristocrats.

   This is just one of the many things that sets Paradise apart.  The Aristocrats are old Fallen who religiously obey the Codex.  They have little mercy to share to those who do not follow the Commandments.  But they desire only to rule the city, not to run it.  Therefore, they have extended power to their Queen/Regent to have the power to run the city, so long as the Codex is obeyed.

   The Aristocrats, always ones to enforce rules and traditions, also demand that all Fallen form themselves into Congregations (Choirs, Murders and Broods).  These Congregations will be on record with the Kings.  Changing one's Congregation requires the documentation to be altered and the King's do not like change.  Getting the attention of the Aristocrats is rarely a good thing, therefore it's best just to suffer.  Don't even think about leaving your Conviction.

Districts

   Paradise will be divided into many districts and sub-district. Each districts and sub-districts have their own Predominance.  Unlike regular cities, some districts gravitate towards a paradise rather than neutrality.

   Around the city, however, are the Badlands.  This is, in fact, a huge irregular area that surrounds the city, considered to be  Horde territory.  As far as anybody can tell the Badlands are controlled by countless demons.  These demons tend to attack Fallen on sight but some don't seem to care.  Still, it makes Paradise difficult to travel to or from by land.

Court

   For Paradise Lost, I want focus less on the Court and encourage Congregations: Choirs, Broods and Murders.  To that end, the Kings, Bishops and Rooks will not be a regular feature of the game.  Queens/Regents and Knights will be obtainable and if you want to play one of those to begin the game, please let us know (we will most certainly be looking for two players to fill the Queen/Regent positions).  Effectively, the Queen/Regents will run the show, acting for the most part as the Kings (essentially what they report to the Kings is what they act upon, therefore they have significant power).

War

   The Aristocrats are powerful enough to thus far deal with any threat.  The most recent threat was a Choir of angels that were eventually destroyed by the Aristocrats.  Like Kings of old, they feel it is their duty to battle all such threats to their Kingdom.  Their reward is an orderly city.  To that end, they rarely seem to need Knights but they bring them along on the warparties when desired.